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NZ Athletes Ready To 'Hoon' At Special Olympics World Winter Games
Nine skiers and snowboarders with an intellectual disability from all corners of New Zealand will chase medals at the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Italy.
The New Zealanders will join over 1500 athletes and 1000 support staff from over 100 countries in Turin for the largest inclusive winter sports event.
Special Olympics New Zealand chief executive Fran Scholey said the four-yearly World Winter Games were about more than medals and could be a "life-changing event for these athletes".
"Aside from the amazing experience of competing at such an event, the trip itself can be a huge challenge for some athletes, so the learnings from this event will benefit them for the rest of their lives," Scholey said.
Alpine athletes have had a long wait to get an opportunity to compete at the Games after the scheduled 2021 event in Kazan, in Russia, were disrupted by the Covid pandemic and the war in the Ukraine.
"Our athletes have been training for many years and competing at the New Zealand Winter Games, but it is wonderful for these nine athletes to now reach the highest level of competition."
Some athletes who had qualified for the last World Winter Games were unable to attend this year's event which Dave Cowie, who is the head of the New Zealand delegation for the Games, said was "quite hard on some of the guys".
Those who were travelling to Italy had turned up "with their A game" after a six month fitness programme, Cowie said.
"We've got a couple of pretty fast guys in the team, they all get division out so they ski with people round about the same sort of ability and speed.
"There's going to be a lot of people turn up that's going to be at the same ability as our athletes so we've got a few medal prospects for sure."
The coaches enjoyed working with the athletes Cowie said.
"They're just so honest about everything there's nothing pretentious about them that's quite refreshing in this day and age to be brutally honest that's why I really enjoy the Special Olympics organisation because what you see is what you get.
Auckland alpine skier Mitchell Harnett-Newlands was selected in 2021 and was disappointed to miss out on the previous World Winter Games.
"It's scary and exciting at the same time, doing something very different like flying to another country to compete," Harnett-Newlands said.
Tim Clayton from Hawkes Bay said the Games in Turin are the pinnacle of his sporting career after 22 years of training on the slopes.
"It means the absolute world to me. Skiing is my passion and I've been doing it since I was 4 or 5. I love the speed."
The New Zealand team will arrive in Italy four days before the opening ceremony on Saturday.
The skiers will compete on the slopes of Sestriere, while the snowboarders are in action at Bardonecchia, where they will have two training days to get used to the Italian snow before competition starts on 11 March.
The seven skiers and two snowboarders represent almost all parts of the country from the North Shore to the deep South and they qualified at the most recent National Winter Games in Cardrona in 2023.
Wellington's Rebecca Heath is proud to be the first member of her family to be representing New Zealand.
"I'm also watching what I eat as I've lost a lot of weight, which helps me do my sport," the teacher aide at Wellington High School said.
"I am looking forward to seeing another country and see other athletes from other countries and make a lot more friends."
Cowie said all the New Zealand athletes wanted to win a gold medal and agreed with Scholey that the Games were bigger than competition.
"Opens their eyes to what they are capable of because of their disability people put them in boxes but getting away on something like this and realising that 'I'm just as able-bodied as anyone else when it comes to this' and they're pretty independent, that's a real eye-opener and people coming back from Games such as this, they've got a real new appreciation of themselves and it just gives them more goals to set."
Cowie said the camaraderie amongst the team was special.
"Because the winter Special Olympic programme is a pretty small programme we probably only see about 50 athletes nationwide annually at our camp in Cardrona each year. Everyone knows everyone so for them to get together and catch up with their mates that's just as important as the skiing to them. It's almost as though the racing is secondary and just having a hoon session with their mates is the main sort of fun that they get going away skiing with everyone."
Scholey explained that winning local races is only one criteria for athletes to be selected, along with their medical challenges, the ability to work well in a team environment and the capacity to travel independently without their whānau for an extended period.
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